Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. A selection of the latest prosecutions by the HSE.
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Firm fined after worker hurt in fall
A beef supplier has been fined after a worker fractured his spine and heel bone after falling during dangerous work at height at a Lincoln abattoir.
The maintenance engineer, who has asked not to be named, has been told he may never fully recover from the injuries he sustained in the incident at Dovecote Park Ltd, Skellingthorpe, Lincoln on 21 July last year.
The engineer was replacing light fittings in a large chiller. He was working from a stepladder set on top of a wooden board spanning metal rafters, approximately three metres from the ground.
He and a colleague accessed the rafters and board using a cherry picker, but the board gave way. The engineer fell to the ground below, whilst his colleague managed to grab onto one of the rafters and make his way back into the cherry picker.
The engineer suffered a fractured vertebra and a fractured heel bone. He was off work for a number of months and although he returned to Dovecote Park Ltd, he found he was unable to carry out the job he was doing because of his injuries and subsequently resigned from his post.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told Lincoln Crown Court today (30 July 2012) that the work had not been properly planned, supervised or carried out in a safe manner. Although the company was using a cherry picker, it wasn’t suitable for the task because it wasn’t tall enough to reach the light fittings.
Dovecote Park Ltd, of Bankwood Road, Stapleton, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £12,361.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
British Standards relating to working at heights.
Bricklayer’s fall puts Berkshire builders in court
A construction and design company in Berkshire has been prosecuted for safety failings after a bricklayer was seriously injured when he fell three metres through a skylight opening in a flat roof.
The worker, who does not wish to be named, broke his pelvis and wrist in the fall at Holmsbury St Mary, Surrey, on 18 November last year.
Wokingham-based Bascomb and Drew, which works in London and across the Home Counties, was building a large house at the site.
Guildford Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (30 July) that the bricklayer was constructing kitchen walls when the incident occurred.
Carpenters had finished putting roof joists in place, but had left two holes for rooflights, which they had covered with blue membrane sheeting and marked with timbers around the edges.
On the day of the incident, the bricklaying team had set out the blocks to be used that day and had left them on the partially-built kitchen roof. At one stage the bricklayer moved from scaffolding to the roof so he could access the top of a wall he was working on, but slipped and fell through the hole left for the rooflight, which had was obscured by the membrane.
He is still unable to return to work as a result of the injuries he sustained.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bascomb and Drew had not taken sufficient action to safeguard workers on site because the rooflight holes were inadequately guarded and obscured.
Bascomb and Drew Ltd, of Keephatch Farmhouse, Clover Close, Wokingham, was fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £4,662 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
British Standards relating to working at heights.
Port berth operator fined after worker’s legs amputated
A berth operator at an Essex Port has been fined £20,000 for safety failings after an employee had both legs amputated after they were crushed by a cargo container.
William James, 73, was working on Stanton Grove Limited’s berth 47 within the Port of Tilbury when the incident occurred on 26 March 2010.
The dock worker was returning to a safe refuge under a quayside crane when he was knocked down by a 45ft container being lowered by a reach stacker. The driver of the reach stacker, unaware that Mr James was on the quayside and had been knocked down, continued to lower the container onto his legs. They were crushed to such a degree that they later had to be amputated.
Basildon Crown Court heard today (9 May) that an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Stanton Grove had failed to ensure the safety of Mr James while he was working on the quayside.
Stanton Grove Limited, based at Tower Wharf, Northfleet, Kent, admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £20,000. The awarding of costs will be determined at a later date.
Mr James’s employer Castlekeep Limited was also prosecuted for alleged breaches of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The company was found not guilty at an earlier hearing.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
British standards relating to lifting equipment safety.
Steel company fined £500,000 after worker died from fall into liquid waste
Global steel company Tata was fined £500,000 for serious safety breaches today after a worker died when he fell into a channel carrying slag waste at 1,500 degrees Celsius when covers had been removed for maintenance and not replaced.
Kevin Downey, 49, was working on a night shift on the Number 4 Blast Furnace at the Port Talbot steelworks when the incident happened on 25 April 2006. At the time, the company was operating as Corus.
Swansea Crown Court heard that Mr Downey, of Port Talbot, had over 30 years’ experience working on the blast furnaces when the incident happened. It was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the prosecution.
The court was told that it was believed Mr Downey went to the cast house at the site to inspect the slag pool, which was due to close for maintenance work during the day shift.
While he was on a veranda area, steam from a granulator became acute forcing him to leave. He tried to retrace his steps through the dense steam but visibility may have been as little as three feet and he fell into the open section of a channel that was running slag at 1,500 degrees Celsius. He attempted to climb out and was helped out by workers who heard his cries. Although conscious he died later the same day.
HSE’s investigation found that the company had a reporting system which showed a significant number of near misses where steam had led to dangerous situations with the potential to injure workers or damage equipment.
It was also common practice to operate the furnace with sections of channels – or runners – left uncovered without taking additional precautions to prevent anyone from falling in.
Tata Steels UK Ltd, of Millbank, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay £57,487 in costs.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Firms fined for workmen’s four storey plunge down lift shaft
Three companies were ordered to pay a total of £232,000 in fines and costs after two workers on an Exeter building site suffered severe injuries when the platform they were working on collapsed and fell four storeys down a lift shaft.
Exeter Crown Court heard today that the men were working on a site building new student accommodation for Exeter University at the former Elmfield Nursery in New North Road when the incident happened in February 2008.
Cowlin Construction Ltd was fined £85,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs by the court in the case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Prestoplan Ltd, which provides timber frame buildings, was fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £22,000 towards costs and Somerset Carpenters Ltd, which supplied labour at the site, was fined £50,000 with £20,000 costs.
Somerset Carpenters were served with a prohibition notice by the HSE following an inspection at the site which banned them from working until safety measures had been put in place to stop workers falling down the lift shaft.
A wooden platform was then erected over the shaft but two weeks later this collapsed, sending Ricki Slocombe (35) and Matthew Blackmore (29), both from Bridgwater, falling to the ground floor.
Mr Blackmore suffered a broken back and Mr Slocombe suffered two broken legs and had to use a wheelchair for several months. He has been unable to return to work since then.
Cowlin Construction Ltd of Cater Road, Bishopsworth, Bristol; Prestoplan Ltd, of Turnpike Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and Somerset Carpenters Ltd, of Bath Road Business Park, Bath Road, Bridgwater, Somerset each pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
British Standards relating to working at heights.
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